Car truck



April 11, 1939.

J. A. SHAFER CAR TRUCK Filed July 16, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet l IINVENTOR James A, Shcyr ATTORNEY J. A. SHAFE'R April 11, 1939.

CAR TRUCK Filed July 16, 1937 s Sheets-Sheet' INVENTOR James Sh ATTORN EY April 1939- J. A. SHAFER 2,153,648

GAR TRUCK Filed July 16, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 [r 3 (r L N f 3 32- i l I 3.5 F196 v I 3 6 37 INVENII'OR Jamcs A. Shafer' ATTORNEa Patented Apr. 11, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OAR TRUCK James A. Shafer, East Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to National Malleable and Steel Castings Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application July 16, 1937, Serial No. 153,884 10 Claims. (Cl. 105-197) This invention relates to car trucks and more prises a horizontal portion M of box-section and particularly embodies certain improvements over upwardly sloping channel-shape members I5, I5. the car truck shown in my copending application A window opening I6 is formed by the tension Ser. No. 109,285, filed November 5, 1936. and compression members and columns and re- In my aforesaid application there is shown a ceives an end of the bolster IT. The horizontal side frame having a window opening and a shelf portion 'of the tension member is formed with a at the bottom of the opening. The bolster is bottom wall l8, side walls I9, I 9 and a top wall formed with depending projections extending or shelf 20. Sleeves 2|, 2| extend downwardly downwardly through openings in the shelf and into the tension member from shelf 20 and the 10 resting on springs in the tension member of the shelf is formed with openings in line with the 10 side frame. There are also springs on the shelf sleeves, as in my previous construction, for receivextending upwardly into pockets in the end of the ing the projections 22, 22 extending downwardly bolster, which springs are shorter and of greater from the bolster. Springs 23, 23 extend between diameter than the springs in the tension member. the upper surface of bottom wall l8 and under 116 Shorter springs are used on the upper level so surface of projections 22 to support the bolster.

that there would still be suflicient room between It will be apparent that the engagement bethe top of the bolster and compression member tween projections 22 and sleeves 2| limits horiabove the window opening to raise the bolster, zontal movement between the side frame and during assembly and disassembly of the truck, bolster, and that in order to assemble and disan amount suflicient to withdraw the downwardassemble these parts, sufiicient clearance must 20 ly extending projections entirely out of the openbe provided, between the upper wall of the bolster ings in the side frame shelf. My present invenand the under side of compression member tion concerns an arrangement in which longer directly above the bolster, to permit the projecsprings can be used on the upper level, than can tions 22 to be withdrawn from sleeves 2| to a 25 be applied in the construction shown in my 00- position wherein they are entirely above shelf 26. 25 pending application, the increased length of The present-day standards set by the Association springs in no way affecting ready assembly and of American Railroads limit the extent to which disassembly of the side frames and bolster. The the compression member can be raised so as to length of the spring may be increased to such an increase the aforementioned clearance. My in- .30 extent that the same type of springs can be used vention, however, does not contemplate any in the tension member and in the bolster. This change in the side frame construction in order to arrangement eliminates the necessity of the railutilize springs in the bolster of the same size as road carrying two different sizes of springs in those in the tension member. Referring particustock for this particular type of truck. larly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the top wall 25 of the In the accompanying drawings: bolster is formed with openings 26 and 21' which 35 Figure 1 is a view in elevation, showing an permit the upper springs 28 and 29 to project embodiment of my invention with a portion of the above the top wall 25. The bolster is operatively bolster and side frame in section taken on line engaged with the tops of springs 28 and 29 of Fig. 2. through spring caps 30, 30, each of which com- Figure 2 is a view partly in plan and partly in prises a top wall 3| and a depending cylindrical 40 section, the latter being taken on line 2-2 of side wall 32, the latter wall overlapping a con- Flg. 1. siderable portion of each spring so as to position Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the same in the truck. Projecting outwardly line 3-3 of Fig. 1. from each wall 32 is an annular flange 33 which 5 Figure 4. is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing engages the under surface of top wall 25 of the the bolster in raised position. bolster immediately adjacent each of the openings Figure 5 is an elevational view showing a modi- 26 and 21, thus, in eifect, supporting the bolster fied form of spring cap; and thereon. It will be readily apparent that down- Figure 6 is a plan view of the cap shown in ward movement of the bolster will be resisted by .5 Fig. 5. springs 28 and 29 through the spring caps 3G.

In the drawings, the side frame In is similar to To disassemble the truck, the bolster is jacked the one shown in my previous application Ser. up to the position shown in Fig. 4, leaving the No. 109,285, and comprises a compression member upper springs 28 and 29 resting on shelf 2!] with H, tension member l2, and vertical connecting the respective spring caps resting in their same 5 columns l3, l3. The tension member 2 comrelative position on the springs. In this position of the bolster the projections 22 are above the level of shelf 20 and after the usual wedges and brasses have been removed from the journal box the side frame may be withdrawn from the end of the bolster. During the latter operation, shelf 20 of the side frame will, in effect, be slid from beneath springs 28 and 29 until the springs either drop out of their respective pockets in the bolster or are removed by hand. While my invention has been described in connection with one side frame and one end of the bolster, it will be understood that a similar side frame co-operates with the other end of the bolster in like manner.

In Figs. 5 and 6 there is shown a construction in which the individual spring caps have been joined by webs 35, 35 so that the two portions 36 and 31 of the caps will function as a unit. With such a construction it would only be necessary tohandle one piece instead of the two shown in Figs. 1 to 4. The operation of the truck otherwise would be the same as where individual spring caps are used for the upper springs.

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and I have no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but recognize that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

What I claim is:

1. In a car truck including a side frame and a bolster, said side frame comprising tension and compression members and connecting columns forming a central window opening therebetween, spring means on said side frame extending into said window opening, said bolster having a downwardly opening pocket in an end thereof receiving said spring means, the upper end of said spring means being at a higher level than the end of said bolster, and means including said bolster constructed and arranged to permit said end of said bolster to be raised to a position higher than said end of said spring means.

2. In a car truck, a side frame comprising tension and compression members and columns joining said members to form an opening therebetween, a bolster having an end projecting into said opening, said bolster having spring receiving pockets therein and apertures in the upper wall thereof, spring means on said side frame beneath said bolster projecting into said pockets and through said apertures in said bolster, and means engaging said spring means and bolster for causing compression of said spring means upon downward movement of said bolster with respect to said side frame.

3. In a car truck a side frame comprising tension and compression members and columns joining said members to form an opening therebetween, a bolster having an end projecting into said opening, said bolster having spring receiving pockets therein and apertures in the upper wall thereof, spring means on said side frame beneath said bolster projecting into said pockets and through said apertures in said bolster, and means engaging said spring means and bolster for causing compression of said spring means upon downward movement of said bolster with respect to said side frame, said last-named means being constructed andarranged as to engage said spring means even when said bolster is raised with respect thereto.

4. In a car truck, a side frame comprising a tension and compression member, columns conspring means upon downward movement of said bolster relative to said side frame.

5. In a car truck, a side frame comprising a tension and compression member, columns connecting said members and forming a window opening therewith, a bolster having an end extending into said opening and a downwardly opening pocket in said end, said bolster having an opening in the upper wall thereof, a spring cap having a portion projecting through said opening, spring means resting on said side frame beneath said bolster, extending into said pocket and engaging said portion of said spring cap, and an annular flange projecting outwardly from said cap and adapted to be engaged by said bolster for effecting compression of said spring means upon downward movement of said bolster relative to said side frame.

6. In a car truck, a side frame comprising tension and compression members, columns connecting said members and forming a window opening therewith, a shelf at the bottom of said window having openings therein, spring means in said tension member beneath said sheif, a bolster having an end projecting into said window and having downward projections extending through the opening in said shelf and engaging said spring means, other spring means on said shelf projecting into and through said bolster, and separable means engaging the upper end of said second-named spring means and adapted to co-operate with said bolster for causing compression of said spring means upon downward movement of said bolster relative to said side frame.

7. In a car truck including a bolster and a pair of side frames, each having a shelf, spring means on said shelf for supporting the bolster, and other spring means below said shelf, said bolster having means integral therewith and depending therefrom at each end thereof for engaging said side frames and tying the latter together, said other spring means co-operating with the means depending from the associated end of the bolster for supporting said bolster, said spring means on said shelf extending upwardly beyond the top of said bolster, and means engaging said bolster and said spring means on said shelf for causing compression of the last mentioned spring means upon downward movement of said bolster with respect to said side frame.

8. In a car truck including a bolster and a pair of side frames, each having a shelf, spring means on said shelf for supporting the bolster, and other spring means below said shelf, said bolster having means integral therewith and depending therefrom at each end thereof for engaging said side frames and tying the latter together, said other spring means co-operating with the means depending from the associated end of the bolster for supporting said bolster, said spring means on said shelf being of substantially the same length as the spring means below said shelf, and means enabling said bolster to be raised to a position wherein said side frame tying means is ineffective while the first mentioned spring means remains on said shelf.

9. In a car truck, a side frame comprising tension and compression members and columns joining said members to form an opening therebetween, a bolster having an end projecting into said opening and spring receiving pockets in said end, said bolster having apertures in the upper wall thereof, helical spring means supported by said side frame projecting upwardly into said pockets and through said apertures in said bolster, and means engaging said spring means and bolster for causing compression of said spring means upon downward movement of said bolster with respect to said side frame.

10. In a car truck, a side frame comprising a tension and a compression member, columns connecting said members and forming a window opening therewith, a bolster having a. hollow end portion extending into said opening, said bolster having openings in the upper and lower Walls thereof, a spring cap having a portion projecting through said opening in said upper wall, helical spring means sup-ported by said side frame extending through the opening in said lower Wall into said hollow end portion and engaging said portion of said spring cap, and means on said cap engaging said bolster to efiect compression of said spring means.

JAMES A. SHAFER. 

